Comments on: The end of year to-do list http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/12/10/the-end-of-year-to-do-list/ ...the translation industry and becoming a translator Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:19:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Merlin: Translation News, Services & Directory » Blog Archive » Year-End Accounting Analysis http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/12/10/the-end-of-year-to-do-list/#comment-2671 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:06:19 +0000 http://thoughtsontranslation.com/?p=753#comment-2671 [...] McKay, in Thoughts on Translation, already published a good list of things to [...]

]]> By: Judy Jenner http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/12/10/the-end-of-year-to-do-list/#comment-2653 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:20:26 +0000 http://thoughtsontranslation.com/?p=753#comment-2653 Good stuff. I rolled my old 401 K from my in-house translator days into a new account, where it is now in holding mode because of the current market situation. I haven’t contributed in the last year until things settle down, preferring to have cash savings for now (I contributed quite aggressively for years). Next year, I will probably move to a SEP!

End of the year is also a good time to clean out our desk, shred old files, create a more streamlined translation/work space, and start the new year with a bang.

Inspired by your post, I just registered for the first step in becoming a court interpreter in Nevada. Payment was due this week, which works perfectly with my end-of-year plan.

]]> By: Cristina Silva http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/12/10/the-end-of-year-to-do-list/#comment-2650 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:15:20 +0000 http://thoughtsontranslation.com/?p=753#comment-2650 Corinne,

Thanks for the reminder, those are great tips.

Since last year, I started doing something before the end of the year that I’ll add to this list.

It’s kind of my business planning event for the year. For example, I really wanted to become ATA-certified last year, so a couple of days before the end of the year I looked for a certification exam in my area (as it hadn’t made the ATA calendar yet, I went ahead and called ATA and they told me when it was going to be offered). Then, I started backtracking the date, gathering the pre-qual papers, faxing them to ATA and putting milestones in my calendar.

Perhaps it’s too trivial to many, but it just helped me stay on track. I have a colleague that establishes monthly milestones for the business related stuff. So, for example, January is Intense Marketing to New Clients, April is Taxes Tune-up, November is Follow-Up on ATA Leads, etc. Again, perhaps trivial, but sometimes I have the feeling that I get so sucked into working “in” the business that I don’t work “on” the business.

Cheers,
Cris Silva

]]> By: Lisa Davey http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/12/10/the-end-of-year-to-do-list/#comment-2647 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:51:54 +0000 http://thoughtsontranslation.com/?p=753#comment-2647 Thanks for reminding me that the new year sales will be a good time to purchase a new office chair!

]]> By: Olivia http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/12/10/the-end-of-year-to-do-list/#comment-2646 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:31:08 +0000 http://thoughtsontranslation.com/?p=753#comment-2646 I do a “performance appraisal” at the end of the year where I print out reports from my database on how many words I have translated, how much money I have made etc. and then compare them to the business plan that I wrote at the beginning of the year to see whether I have met (or hopefully exceeded) the goals I set for myself. These reports provide a good basis for setting ambitious but realistic goals for next year.

I also try to get my business plan for 2010 written up before the end of the year. Nothing fancy, just a list of this year’s achievements and measurable goals for next year.

]]> By: ebodeux http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/12/10/the-end-of-year-to-do-list/#comment-2643 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:38:56 +0000 http://thoughtsontranslation.com/?p=753#comment-2643 As retirement fund, I use a SEP. Deending on how much money you make, you may be able to put in a lot more than an IRA or Roth. See this link I found that gives some info small business retirement fund options: http://www.smsmallbiz.com/Tax-Free_Retirement_Accounts_for_the_Self-Employed.html

]]> By: End of the year musings « Musings from an overworked translator http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/12/10/the-end-of-year-to-do-list/#comment-2640 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:10:57 +0000 http://thoughtsontranslation.com/?p=753#comment-2640 [...] you don’t (and if you don’t you should!), you should check out her latest post on her End of the year to-do list for translators. She has lots of good suggestions, and I am actually thinking of implementing some [...]

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